In the CDMA2000 1x Rev. E specification, the reverse-link power control bits are transmitted at 400 Hz on the forward link. The power control bits are carried by the forward power control subchannel (F-PCSCH), which is time division multiplexed with the forward fundamental channel (F-FCH). In order to ensure that the power control bits are properly demodulated, no matter what rate the F-FCH transmits, the power control bits are always transmitted at the same power level as the full-rate (9600 bps) traffic channel. In addition, to overcome other sector interference(s), the transmit power of the power control bits has to be boosted according to the active set size of the mobile station (MS). For example, if a MS has an active set size of 2, the transmit power of the F-PCSCH from both sectors in its active set has to be increased by 3 dB. Thus the reverse link power control (RLPC) bit transmitted on the forward link of CDMA2000 1x consumes a significant portion of the forward link transmission power. In typical deployment, over 20% of the total forward link power transmitted from a sector is spent on the F-PCSCH.